Secondary video supplements during vod services

ABSTRACT

A method for providing media to a user via an interactive media services client device coupled to a programmable media services server device includes receiving user input requesting on-screen comments to be provided with a media presentation and providing the user with a media presentation along with comments related to the media presentation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. utility application having Ser.No. 11/678,653, filed Feb. 26, 2007, which is entirely incorporatedherein by reference, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.09/693,780 (now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,200,857), filed Oct. 20, 2000,which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/590,520 (nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,801), filed on Jun. 9, 2000 and whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/214,987, filedon Jun. 29, 2000, each of which are entirely incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to television systems, and moreparticularly, to the field of media on demand.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With recent advances in digital transmission technology, cabletelevision systems are now capable of providing much more than thetraditional analog broadcast video. In implementing enhancedprogramming, the home communication terminal (“HCT”), otherwise known asthe set-top box, has become an important computing device for accessingvideo services and navigating a subscriber through a maze of availableservices. In addition to supporting traditional analog broadcast videofunctionality, digital HCTs (or “DHCTs”) now also support an increasingnumber of two-way digital services such as video-on-demand.

Typically, a DHCT is connected to a cable or satellite televisionnetwork and includes hardware and software necessary to provide thefunctionality of the digital television system at the client's site.Preferably, some of the software executed by a DHCT is downloaded and/orupdated via the cable television network. Each DHCT also typicallyincludes a processor, communication components and memory, and isconnected to a television or other display device, such as a personalcomputer. While many conventional DHCTs are stand-alone devices that areexternally connected to a television, a DHCT and/or its functionalitymay be integrated into a television or personal computer, as will beappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art.

As the number of video-on-demand movie choices increases, it is becomingincreasingly important for video-on-demand providers to distinguishtheir video presentations by providing viewers with more options orfeatures, along with the video-on-demand presentations, that will makethe viewing experience more entertaining for the viewers. In addition,many viewers today are interested in knowing more about the movies thatthey are watching but simply do not have enough free time to locate andread such information. Therefore there exists a need to make thevideo-on-demand viewing experience more informative and entertaining.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiment of the invention can be viewed as a method forproviding media to a user via an interactive media services clientdevice coupled to a programmable media services server device, themethod including steps of receiving user input requesting on-screensupplementary information be provided with a media presentation andproviding the user with a media presentation along with supplementsvalid during applicable time intervals of the media presentation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating theprinciples of the present invention. In the drawings, like referencenumerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a cable television system inaccordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a diagram of the headend 11 as depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of selected elements of a DHCT andrelated equipment, in accordance with one preferred embodiment of thepresent invention depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A is another depiction of a block diagram of selected elements ofa DHCT in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the presentinvention depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 depicts a remote control device that can be used to provide userinput to the DHCT shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 depicts an example video-on-demand (VOD) rental selection windowthat illustrates a media rental list presented to the user by the DHCTshown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 depicts an example rental period selection window that ispresented to the user after the user selects a media rental via therental selection window shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 depicts an example rental options selection window that ispresented to the user after the user selects a rental period via therental period selection window shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 depicts a stopped video window that is presented to a user afterthe user stops a media presentation, containing added comments, that wasbeing provided to the user by the DHCT depicted in FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 depicts a stopped video window that is presented to a user afterthe user stops a media presentation, containing no added comments, thatwas being provided to the user by the DHCT depicted in FIG. 3.

FIG. 10 depicts a comments selection window after the user requestsadded comments via the stopped video window depicted in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a cable television system 10 that includesa headend 11 connected through a network 18 to multiple DHCTs 16. Theheadend 11 receives and generates television signals and transmits themas optical signals over fiber optic cables 12. One or more optical nodes13 are included in the system 10 for converting the optical signals toRadio Frequency (RF) signals that are thereafter routed over othermedia, such as coaxial cables 14. Taps 15 are provided within the cablesystem 10 for splitting the RF signal off, via cables 17, to subscriberequipment such as DHCTs 16, cable-ready television sets, videorecorders, or computers. It should be appreciated, however, that thecable television system 10 shown in FIG. 1 is merely illustrative andshould not be construed as implying any limitations upon the scope ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of portions of a headend 11 that is configuredto provide media-on-demand (MOD) services in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. MOD services include, among otherthings, video-on-demand (VOD) services and respective MOD informationsuitable to be presented to a user via display of an interactive mediaguide. MOD server application 19 and a plurality of other serverapplications 20 are connected to a digital network control system (DNCS)23 via a high-speed network such as an Ethernet connection 32. The MODserver application 19 is responsible for reserving and configuringsystem resources needed to provide MOD services and for providingconfiguration and service data to an MOD client application 63 (FIG. 3),including MOD information comprising a catalog of titles available foron-demand viewing and/or on-demand rental by a user.

The DNCS 23 provides complete management, monitoring, and control of thenetwork's elements and broadcast services provided to users. In oneimplementation, the DNCS 23 uses a data insertion multiplexer 29 and adata QAM 30 to insert in-band broadcast file system (BFS) data into anMPEG-2 transport stream that is broadcast and received via DHCT'scommunication interface 42 and tuner system 45. The DNCS 23 alsocontains a session manager 34 that uses Digital Storage Media Commandand Control (DSMCC) protocol to set up and maintain MOD sessions. Thesession manager 34 processes user to network (U-N) session signalingmessages, manages allocation of session-related network resources,supports network management operations, acts as a point of contact tothe network for the DHCT's 16 in the network 18 to establish individualsessions, and supports MOD services by providing the signaling interfaceto establish, maintain and release client initiated exclusive sessions.

A service application manager (SAM) server 25 is a server component of aclient-server pair of components, with the client component beinglocated at the DHCT 16. Together, the client-server SAM componentsprovide a system in which the user can access services, which areidentified by an application to run and a parameter, such as particulardata content, specific to that service. The client-server SAM componentsalso manage the life cycle of the applications on the system, includingthe definition, activation, and suspension of services they provide andthe downloading of the applications into the DHCT 16 as necessary.MPEG-2 transport may be used to multiplex video, audio, and data indigital transmission channels such as channels transmitted downstreamemploying quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). An MPEG-2 transportstream allows multiplexing of digital video, digital audio, and data.Multiple different video programs, each with one or more digital videostreams, one or more digital audio streams, and/or multiple data streamscan be multiplexed and transmitted over the same 6 MHz (or 8 MHz) RFfrequency in which the DHCT's tuner tunes to. Hence, a digitaltransmission channel can carry the video, audio and data streams ofprograms of multiple television (TV) stations or on-demand videoprograms.

Applications on both the headend 11 and the DHCT 16 can access the datastored in a broadcast file system (BFS) server 28 in a similar manner toa file system found on operating systems. The BFS server 28 is a part ofa broadcast file system that has a counterpart BFS client module 43(FIG. 3) in a DHCT 16 connected to the network 18. The BFS server 28repeatedly sends data for applications on a data carousel (not shown)over a period of time in cyclical repeated fashion so that a DHCT 16that is in need of reading any particular data file or parts thereof mayreceive it when requested by a user or one or more of its internalrunning processes.

A VOD content manager 21 is responsible for managing the content on theVOD content servers 22. The MOD server application 19 controls both theVOD content manager 21 and the VOD content servers 22 and utilizes themto help deliver the video and audio streams that make up VOD services.In one embodiment, an MOD content manager and MOD content servers (notshown) could run respectively in parallel to the VOD content manager 21and VOD content servers 22 to manage other types of on-demand mediacontent. In an alternate embodiment an MOD content manager replaces theVOD content manager 21 and the MOD content servers replaces the VODcontent servers 22. The QAM modulators that comprise the QAM group 24receive the MPEG-2 transport streams from the VOD content servers 22,convert them into encrypted RF signals at a specified frequency(channel), and transmit them to a DHCT 16 via the network 18.

The QPSK modem 26 is responsible for transporting the out-of-band IP(internet protocol) datagram traffic between the distribution headend 11and a DHCT 16. Data from the QPSK modem 26 is routed by headend router27 within the headend 11. The headend router 27 is also responsible fordelivering upstream application traffic to the various serverapplications 19 & 20.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a DHCT 16 that is coupled to aheadend 11 and to a television 41. Some of the functionality performedby applications executed in the DHCT 16 (such as the MOD clientapplication 63) may instead be performed at the headend 11 and viceversa. A DHCT 16 is typically situated at a user's residence or place ofbusiness and may be a stand alone unit or integrated into another devicesuch as, for example, a television set or a personal computer. The DHCT16 preferably includes a communications interface 42 for receivingsignals (video, audio and/or other data) from the headend 11 through thenetwork 18 and for providing any reverse information to the headend 11through the network 18. The DHCT 16 further includes at least oneprocessor 44 for controlling operations of the DHCT 16, an RF outputsystem 48 for driving the television display 41, and a tuner system 45for tuning into a particular television channel to be displayed and forsending and receiving various types of data or media from the headend11. The tuner system 45 includes, in one implementation, an out-of-bandtuner for bi-directional quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) datacommunication and a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) tuner forreceiving television signals. Additionally, a receiver 46 receivesexternally-generated information, such as user inputs or commands fromother devices.

The DHCT 16 may also include one or more wireless or wired interfaces,also called ports, for receiving and/or transmitting data to otherdevices. For instance, the DHCT 16 may feature USB (Universal SerialBus), Ethernet (for connection to a computer), IEEE-1394 (for connectionto media devices in an entertainment center), serial, and/or parallelports. The user inputs may, for example, be provided by a computer ortransmitter with buttons or keys located either on the exterior of theterminal or by a hand-held remote control device or keyboard thatincludes user-actuated buttons.

In one implementation, the DHCT 16 includes system memory 49, whichincludes flash memory 51 and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) 52, forstoring various applications, modules and data for execution and use bythe processor 44. Basic functionality of the DHCT 16 is provided by anoperating system 53 that is primarily stored in flash memory 51. Amongother things, the operating system 53 includes at least one resourcemanager 67 that provides an interface to resources of the DHCT 16 suchas, for example, computing resources.

An application referred to as navigator 55 is also resident in flashmemory 51 for providing a navigation framework for services provided bythe DHCT 16. The navigator 55 registers for and in some cases reservescertain user inputs related to navigational keys such as channelincrement/decrement, last channel, favorite channel, etc. The clientapplications may be resident in flash memory 51 or downloaded into DRAM52. The navigator 55 also provides users with television related menuoptions that correspond to DHCT functions such as, for example,providing an interactive program guide, blocking a channel or a group ofchannels from being displayed in a channel menu, and displaying avideo-on-demand purchase list.

The flash memory 51 also contains a platform library 56. The platformlibrary 56 is a collection of utilities useful to applications, such asa timer manager, a compression manager, a configuration manager, an HTMLparser, a database manager, a widget toolkit, a string manager, andother utilities (not shown). These utilities are accessed byapplications via application programming interfaces (APIs) as necessaryso that each application does not have to contain these utilities. Twocomponents of the platform library 56 that are shown in FIG. 3 are awindow manager 59 and a service application manager client (SAM) 57.

The window manager 59 provides a mechanism for implementing the sharingof the screen regions and user input. The window manager 59 on the DHCT16 is responsible for, as directed by one or more applications,implementing the creation, display, and de-allocation of the limitedDHCT 16 screen resources. It allows multiple applications to share thescreen by assigning ownership of screen regions, or windows. The windowmanager 59 also maintains, among other things, a user input registry 50in DRAM 52 so that when a user enters a key or a command via the remotecontrol device 80 or another input device such as a keyboard or mouse,the user input registry 50 is accessed to determine which of variousapplications running on the DHCT 16 should receive data corresponding tothe input key and in which order. As an application is executed, itregisters a request to receive certain user input keys or commands. Whenthe user presses a key corresponding to one of the commands on theremote control device 80, the command is received by the receiver 46 andrelayed to the processor 44. The processor 44 dispatches the event tothe operating system 53 where it is forwarded to the window manager 59which ultimately accesses the user input registry 50 and routes datacorresponding to the incoming command to the appropriate application.

The SAM client 57 is a client component of a client-server pair ofcomponents, with the server component being located on the headend 11. ASAM database 60 in DRAM 52 includes a data structure of services and adata structure of channels that are created and updated by the headend11. Many services can be defined using the same application component,with different parameters. Examples of services include, withoutlimitation and in accordance with one implementation, presentingtelevision programs (available through a WatchTV application 62),pay-per-view events (available through a PPV application 64), digitalmusic (not shown), media-on-demand (available through an MOD application63), and an interactive program guide. In general, the identification ofa service includes the identification of an executable application thatprovides the service along with a set of application-dependentparameters that indicate to the application the service to be provided.As a non-limiting example, a service of presenting a television programcould be executed with a set of parameters to view HBO or with aseparate set of parameters to view CNN. Each association of theapplication component (tune video) and one parameter component (HBO orCNN) represents a particular service that has a unique service I.D. TheSAM client 57 also interfaces with the resource manager 67, as discussedbelow, to control resources of the DHCT 16.

Application clients can also be downloaded into DRAM 52 at the requestof the SAM client 57, typically in response to a request by the user orin response to a message from the headend. In this non-limiting exampleDRAM 52 contains a media-on-demand application (MOD) 63, an e-mailapplication 65, and a web browser application 66, among others (notshown). It should be clear to one with ordinary skill in the art thatthese applications are not limiting and merely serve as examples forthis present embodiment of the invention. Furthermore, one or more DRAMbased applications may, as an alternative embodiment, be resident inflash memory 51. These applications, and others provided by the cablesystem operator, are top level software entities on the network forproviding services to the user.

In one implementation, applications executing on the DHCT 16 work withthe navigator 55 by abiding by several guidelines. First, an applicationutilizes the SAM client 57 for the provision, activation, and suspensionof services. Second, an application shares DHCT 16 resources with otherapplications and abides by the resource management policies of the SAMclient 57, the operating system 53, and the DHCT 16. Third, anapplication handles situations where resources are only available withnavigator 55 intervention. Fourth, when an application loses serviceauthorization while providing a service, the application suspends theservice via the SAM (the navigator 55 will reactivate an individualservice application when it later becomes authorized). Finally, anapplication client is designed to not have access to certain user inputkeys reserved by the navigator (i.e., power, channel +/−, volume +/−,etc.).

The MOD client application 63 provides the user with lists of availablemedia titles to choose from and with video presentations requested bythe user. The MOD client application 63 provides video presentations tothe user by engaging, preferably, in a direct two-way IP (InternetProtocol) connection with VOD content servers 22 (FIG. 2).

FIG. 3A is another depiction of selected elements of DHCT 16. DHCT 16includes a tuner system 45 that can select one of a plurality oftransmission channels provided by a broadband network such as a Digitalcable TV network or a Digital Broadband Delivery System (DBDS). Tunersystem 45 enables the DHCT of the present invention to tune todownstream media and data transmissions, thereby allowing a user toreceive digital or analog video programs and associated contenttransmitted in the downstream transmission via the DBDS.

The DHCT 16 includes demultiplexing system 200 comprising functionalityfor QAM demodulation, forward error correction (FEC), transportdemultiplexing and parsing. Transport demultiplexing may include MPEG-2transport demultiplexing. The DHCT 16 also includes a digital videodecoding system 210, a digital audio decoding system 220, a displayoutput system such as RF output system 48, an “audio player and outputsystem” 230 that can feed audio samples to RF output system 48, and aprocessor 44.

The demultiplexing system 200 in communication with communicationinterface 42, tuner system 45 and processor 44 effects reception ofcompressed video streams, compressed audio streams, and data streamscorresponding to a first video program to be separated from otherprograms and/or streams transported in the tuned transmission channeland to be stored in a first part of DRAM 52 of DHCT 16 assigned toreceive packets of a first video program.

The demultiplexing system 200 in communication with the digital videodecoding system 210 and processor 44 effect notification and/or transferof received packets of one or more compressed video streamscorresponding to a first video program from a first part of DRAM 52 to asecond part of DRAM 52 assigned to digital video decoding system 210.

The demultiplexing system 200 in communication with the digital audiodecoding system 220 and processor 44 effects notification and/ortransfer of received packets of one or more compressed audio streamscorresponding to a first video program from a first part of DRAM 52 to athird part of DRAM 52 assigned to digital audio decoding system 220.

The demultiplexing system 200 in communication with processor 44 and/orother data parsing and interpretation device (not shown) in DHCT 16effects notification and/or transfer of received packets of one or moredata streams corresponding to a first video program from a first part ofDRAM 52 to a fourth part of DRAM 52 assigned for reception of dataaffiliated with a first video program.

The digital video decoding system 210 reads compressed video stored in asecond part of DRAM 52 assigned to digital video decoding system 210 andeffects decompression and reconstruction of compressed digital videostreams into an assigned fifth part of DRAM 52, and in communicationwith the display output system (such as RF output system 48) effectspresentation of video pictures in television 41.

The digital audio decoding system 220 reads compressed audio stored in athird part of DRAM 52 assigned to the digital audio decoding system 220and effects decompression and reconstruction of compressed digital audiostreams into an assigned sixth part of DRAM 52, and in communicationwith the audio player and output system 230 effects presentation ofaudio sample to television 41 and/or other audio output interfaces (notshown) in DHCT 16.

An executable program or algorithm corresponding to an operating system(OS) component, or to a client platform component, or to a clientapplication, or to respective parts thereof, can reside in and executeout of DRAM 52 and/or flash memory 51. Likewise, data inputted into oroutputted from any executable program can reside in DRAM 52 or flashmemory 51. Furthermore, an executable program or algorithm correspondingto an OS component, or to a client platform component, or to a clientapplication, or to respective parts thereof, can reside in flash memory51, or in a local storage device connected to DHCT 16 and can betransferred into DRAM 52 for execution. Likewise, data input for anexecutable program can reside in flash memory 51 or a storage device andcan be transferred into DRAM 52 for use by an executable program oralgorithm. In addition, data outputted by an executable program can bewritten into DRAM 52 by an executable program or algorithm and can betransferred into flash memory 51 or into a storage device for storagepurposes. The present invention is not limited by where or how dataand/or applications are stored or retrieved.

Each of the above mentioned applications comprises executableinstructions for implementing logical functions and can be embodied inany computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system thatcan fetch and execute the instructions. In the context of this document,a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readablemedium would include the following: an electrical connection(electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette(magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-onlymemory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM or Flash memory) (electronic), an optical fiber (optical), and aportable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that thecomputer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable mediumupon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronicallycaptured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or othermedium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitablemanner, and then stored in a computer memory.

FIG. 4 is a non limiting example of a remote control device 80 that isused to provide user input to the DHCT 16. The arrow buttons 82 includean up arrow button 83, a down arrow button 84, a left arrow button 85,and a right arrow button 86 that are used to scroll through optionsand/or to highlight an option. The select button 87 may be used toselect a currently highlighted option that is provided to the user.Other buttons that are available on the remote control device will bediscussed further below. Many alternative methods of providing userinput may be used including a remote control device with differentbuttons and/or button layouts, a keyboard device, a voice activateddevice, etc. The invention described herein is not limited by the typeof device used to provide user input.

With continued reference to FIGS. 3, 3A and 4 throughout the remainingfigures, FIG. 5 depicts an example VOD rental selection window 100. Aswith other window examples discussed below, processor 44 executesprogram instructions of MOD client application 63 that cause it todirect the window manager 59 to create window 100 via display data thatis formatted for television 41. Processor 44 stores the display data orparts thereof in DRAM 52 (as necessary) and transfers the display datato a display output system such as RF output system 48 wherein displaydata is converted to respective television signals and transmitted totelevision 41. Of course, the scope of the invention also includes anyother method of causing the described windows to appear to the user.

A user may utilize the rental selection window 100 in order to request avideo-on-demand rental. Top portion 101 of example window 100 typicallycontains one or more headings, while the bottom portion 102 typicallyillustrates relevant navigation buttons available on the remote controldevice 80. Video rental list 103 contains the titles of videopresentations, such as video title 104, that are available for rent aswell as a highlighted title area 105.

A user may scroll through the video rental list using the up and downarrow buttons 83, 84 on the remote control device 80 and may request acurrently highlighted video title by activating the select button 87.For example, a user may activate the down arrow button 84 on the remotecontrol device 80 until the selection “You've Got Mail” 109 is displayedin the highlighted title area 105 and then request to see the videotitled “You've Got Mail” 109 by activating the select button 87. In analternative embodiment, activating the up and down arrow buttons 83, 84on the remote control device 80 results in the shifting of thehighlighted title area 105 rather that the shifting of the video titles(at least until the top or bottom video titles are reached). A reducedscreen area 106 displays an image corresponding to the video titledisplayed in the highlighted title area 105. As the user scrolls throughthe video rental list 103, the image displayed in the reduced screenarea 106 changes accordingly. Without any limitation to other scrollingand selection forms, the scrolling and selection mechanism describedabove is similarly applicable to other lists and windows herein.

FIG. 6 depicts an example rental period selection window 110 that ispresented to a user after the user selects a movie from the rentalselection window 100. The user is presented with a rental period list111 containing rental periods 112, rental prices 113, and a highlightedselection area 113. Rental period information section 114 providesinformation about the rental period displayed in the highlightedselection area. A user may scroll to the desired rental period until itbecomes highlighted and may then select a highlighted rental period byactivating the select button 87 or may cancel the rental request byactivating the exit button 91.

FIG. 7 depicts an example rental options selection window 120 that ispresented to a user after the user selects a rental period via therental period selection window 110. Rental options list 122 containsrental options, such as option 123, and a highlighted option area 126.The user may use the up and down arrows 83, 84 to designate a rentaloption as the highlighted rental option and may use the left and rightarrow buttons 85, 86 in order to hop over to the setting list 125 andchange the setting of the highlighted rental option 123. Example rentaloptions include subtitles, pop-up comments, and letterbox display.

Information supplements such as pop-up comments settings may includecomments from the director, the producer, actors, critics, or otherviewers that are displayed at designated time intervals of the on-demandmedia presentation simultaneously with the on-demand media presentation.

Information supplements comprise media such as textual, graphical,video, or audio information, each to be presented as a single supplementor as a combined set of supplements with the VOD presentation.Information supplements comprise a specification of start time andduration interval in relation to the start of the on-demand title forwhich they are presented to the user or in relation to some otheraccessible starting point of the on-demand title such as a chapter.Herein such specification is referred to as the active time interval ofthe information supplement. An information supplement may exhibit one ormore active time interval specifications during the course of the VODtitle presentation. The time interval specification enables aninformation supplement to be presented to the user in atime-synchronized fashion.

Information supplements also comprise other specifications such asscreen positioning relative to the picture display of the on-demandtitle enabling a supplement's respective presentation to overlay thepicture display in a predetermined manner to minimize occlusion of thepicture.

Popup alerts are optional graphical supplements such as arrows thatpoint attention to inconspicuous parts of the on-demand video picturepresentation. They possess active time interval and screen locationspecifications.

Auditory alerts are optional supplements that are mixed with the audioof the on-demand video program and possess active time intervaldesignation of one or more speaker channels for which to mix the audiosupplement, and volume specification.

Multiple video views are optional supplements that provide differentcamera angles of the media presentation. Their presentation isaccomplished with a split-picture display presentation or apicture-in-picture (PIP) presentation. The specification for amulti-video view supplement comprises an active time interval, a screenposition, and whether the presentation is effected as a split-screen orPIP supplement.

Advertisement pop-ups are optional supplements that enable the user toreceive product information during the on-demand video presentation inexchange for a lower rental fee. The advertisements may be specific toproducts inherent during the course of the on-demand movie such as awatch worn by a leading actor. Furthermore, the advertisementsupplement's active time interval may be concurrent to the time in themovie that the leading actor reads the time on the watch.

Upon a user setting an optional request for one or more informationsupplements, the MOD client application 63 initiates processor 44 toenable data streams carrying information supplements corresponding to anon-demand video program to be received by demultiplexing system 200, tobe transferred to the fourth part of DRAM assigned for reception ofdata. Supplementary textual or graphical data is then decoded, parsedand interpreted by processor 44 and/or other data parsing andinterpretation device (not shown) in DHCT 16 and transferred into agraphics display buffer 240 as graphics data.

Alternatively, if the supplementary data or parts thereof comprise adigital audio component, it is decoded by a first digital audio decodingsystem 220 or a second digital audio decoding system (not shown) and thesupplementary audio is transferred to an assigned Pulse Code Modulation(PCM) audio buffer 250 in DRAM 52. The audio player and output system240 effects mixing of the supplementary audio stored in the PCM bufferwith the designated audio channel of the reconstructed digital audio ofthe on-demand video program stored in the sixth part of DRAM 52.

Alternatively, if the supplementary data or parts thereof comprise adigital video component, it is received as a video stream of theon-demand video program and processed in DHCT 16 as described above,each processing operation is performed by an aforementioned firstprocessing component in DHCT 16, respectively, or a similar secondprocessing component in DHCT 16 (not shown).

A supplementary video picture may be decompressed by digital videodecoding system 210 and scaled down as it is being reconstructed in aprocedural fashion with video scaling unit 260 to effect a picture inpicture presentation. The scaled down reconstructed picture can bestored in a scaled video picture buffer 270 in DRAM 52. Simultaneousdisplay of the on-demand video picture with a supplementary scaled downvideo picture 270 can be constructed with supplementary graphical andtextual information stored in graphics display buffer 240.

Downscaled video pictures overlay on-demand video presentation by thecomposition capabilities of DHCT 16 (not shown) and positioned (likelyat a corner of screen) as specified by the information supplementspecification and only visible during the respective specified activetime interval.

Graphical and textual data corresponding to a pop-up supplement overlaythe on-demand video presentation on designated screen location per theirrespective specification and are only visible during their respectivespecified active time interval

The DHCT 16 has an internal clock 280 and timers 290 that enablecomputation of the time relationship between its internal clock andclock specified by digital video program. Hence, by reading andinterpreting the clock and time stamps specifications intrinsic in thedigital video program (for example, as provisioned in MPEG-2), DHCT 16can effect an output as a synchronized presentation to the user thatincludes the reconstructed on-demand video pictures, the reconstructeddigital audio samples, and supplementary information.

FIG. 8 depicts an example stopped video window 130 that is presented tothe user after the user stops the presentation of a video rental forwhich actors' pop-up comments had been activated. The reduced screenarea 106 displays an image from the media rental that was beingpresented to the user prior to example window 130 being displayed.Information section 131 contains information related to the media rentalassociated with the image displayed in the reduced screen area 106,including numerical and graphical indications 136 as to the playing timeand rental time remaining for the media rental. Rental control optionslist 133 contains rental control options, such as the option to“De-activate comments” 134, and a highlighted option area 135. A usercan de-activate pop-up comments by selecting the “De-activate comments”option 134 via the remote control device 80. Once this option isselected, the “Actor's comments activated” message 132 is replaced witha message indicating that pop-up comments have been de-activated, andpop-up comments are no longer presented to the user during the remainderof the rental period unless the user subsequently requests otherwise.

FIG. 9 depicts an example stopped video window 140 that is presented tothe user after the user stops the presentation of a video rental forwhich pop-up comments are not activated. Rental control options list 133contains rental control options, such as the option to “Activate pop-upcomments” 144, and a highlighted option area 135. A user can activatepop-up comments by selecting the “Activate pop-up comments” option 144via the remote control device 80. In one embodiment, the user may selectan “Add comments” option 145 which enables the user to add comments tothe rental selection via the keyboard 73 (FIG. 3) or via an infra-redkeyboard (not shown). Comments added by a user during a videopresentation are displayed on the television 41 and are stored by theMOD client application 63 in the application memory 70. Once the rentalperiod expires, user comments are transmitted by the MOD clientapplication 63 to the MOD server application 19 (FIG. 2) which editsthem (if necessary), integrates them with comments from other usersassociated with the same video title, and stores them in memory (notshown) at the headend 11. User comments may be edited for things such asvulgar language and excessive length. Integrated user commentsassociated with a specific media rental may then be presented to asubsequent user who request such comments along with the media rental.In one embodiment, user comments are edited or screened by a systemoperator.

FIG. 10 depicts an example pop-up comments selection window 150 that ispresented to the user after the user selects the “Activate pop-upcomments” option 144 via stopped video window 140. Pop-up commentsselection list 153 contains pop-up comments types such as director'scomments 154, producer's comments 155, actors' comments 156, critics'comments 157, and viewers' comments 158. Once the user selects the typeof comments that the user desires to view along with the video rental,such comments are displayed with the video rental the next time that thevideo rental is presented to the user, unless the user subsequentlyrequests otherwise. The comments may be displayed at the bottom of thetelevision screen or may be proximally located to a displayed item oractor to which/whom the comments respectively pertain.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent invention, particularly any “preferred embodiments”, are merelypossible examples of the implementations, merely setting forth a clearunderstanding of the principles of the inventions. Many variations andmodifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of theinvention without departing substantially from the spirit of theprinciples of the invention. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of the disclosure andpresent invention and protected by the following claims.

1. A method implemented by a television set-top terminal (STT) coupledvia a bi-directional communication network to a programmable remoteserver, wherein the STT is configured to receive a video program from aremote server, said method comprising steps of: providing a selectableoption to enable reception of a second video stream corresponding to asupplemental view of the video program; receiving from the server via atuner in the STT that is tuned to a single transmission channel a firstplurality of streams corresponding to the video program, said firstplurality of streams including an audio stream, a first video streamcorresponding to a main view of the video program, and the second videostream; receiving a viewer input from a viewer to select the selectableoption; responsive to receiving the viewer input, enabling the STT toprocess the second video stream; and outputting by the STT audiocorresponding to the audio stream and a composition corresponding to thefirst and second video streams as a television signal, wherein the audioand composition of the first video and second video are timesynchronized according to time stamps specifications.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the video program is a video-on-demand programestablished over a dedicated network session between the remote serverand the STT.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the composition of thefirst and second video streams in the television signal is presented asa split-picture.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the composition ofthe first and second video streams in the television signal is presentedas a picture-in-picture.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first andsecond video streams correspond to a first and second camera angle ofthe scene contained in the video program, respectively.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving from the server a supplementarydata stream with respective portions associated with the presentationtime of respective portions of the video program; and outputting by theSTT a television signal that contains the supplementary data stream andthe first and second videos; wherein the supplementary data stream andthe first video and second video streams are time synchronized accordingto time stamps specifications.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising establishing a dedicated network session between the serverand the STT and providing a rented video program through the establishednetwork session.
 8. A method implemented by a server coupled to atelevision set-top terminal (STT) via a bi-directional communicationnetwork, the method comprising the steps of: providing to the STTinformation including respective descriptions of rentable video program;providing a selectable option to receive from the server a firstsupplemental data stream that is associated with the presentation timeof respective portions of a rented video program, said firstsupplemental data stream being different to each stream in a firstplurality of streams corresponding to the rented video program;receiving a request from the STT for the rented video program;establishing a dedicated network session between the server and the STT;providing the first plurality of streams through the established networksession; receiving a viewer input from a viewer to select the selectableoption; responsive to receiving the viewer input, receiving from theserver at least a portion of the first supplemental data stream and atleast a respective portion of each stream in the first plurality ofstreams via a tuner in the STT; outputting by the STT a composition ofthe received said portion of the first supplemental data stream and thereceived said respective portion of each stream in the first pluralityof streams as a television signal, wherein the composition of thereceived said portion of the first supplemental data stream and thereceived said respective portion of each stream in the first pluralityof streams are time synchronized according to time stampsspecifications.